DMS PTO Meeting

September 23, 2020

Virtual Zoom Meeting 7 pm

Attendees: 

(Sign in sheet not available as meeting was virtual.  Secretary recorded names that appeared on Zoom call)

Tiffany Marr, Ginger Kockentiet, Elaine Spielberg, Ann Perez, Jason Snider, Birifan, Alejandra Arila, Jessica Sauter, Amy Starnes, David, Spielberg, Yvette, Techo Spark 5, SJ Foster, Venus Klochak, Natalie Rich, Andrea Chambers-Chrisp, Emilie, Helena Richards, Emily Bliss, Tanya Gure, Utkarsh Agrawal, Tiffany deSilva, Asch Mikhail, Pankajavalli Thirugnanasambantham, Tisha Rinker, Maria Dishop, Leann Evans, Dana Berger, Melanie Gamez, Jennifer Talley (31 total)

President’s Report – Tiffany Marr

Agenda, Communications, UnFundraiser, Spiritwear & Chat Q&A

Meeting called to order at 7 pm.  Tiffany welcomed everyone to the meeting.  She reviewed tonight’s agenda with the attendees.  

She then described ways to get information from the PTO.  This includes subscribing to our blog at dmspto.org – to get real time communications on activities.  Also you can follow us on various social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  We are also producing a monthly newsletter which is distributed on the Principals Friday email and also can be found on our blog under Newsletters.  Please sign up on the blog to stay up to date!

Principal’s Report – Dr. Ann Perez

Dr. Perez reported that Hybrid is off to a great start and that they appreciate everyone’s patience as they work out any remaining glitches.  RLA continues to progress on a good note too.

She reminded the parents that Breakfast & lunch are free everyday at school for everyone until the federal funds run out.  Students can grab either or both on their way into school and eat in the classroom and they are available when they leave school as a to go item.

The Davis Food Pantry is also up and running and available to students in need.  She remarked that a Davis staff donated their health incentive checks to the food pantry. This contribution was more than $4,000!

Parent Teacher conferences will be held on October 1 starting at 3:45 and running until 7:15 pm. All conferences will be virtual.  There will be individual and team conference times available.  Look for communication from teacher leads soon.  Every team will also be holding a Q&A for parents that they can attend virtually. 

Secretary’s Report – Jennifer Talley

Jennifer presented the previous month’s meeting minutes for review and approval.  Tiffany shared the minutes with the group on the screen.  The minutes were also posted to our blog for review prior to this meeting.  No comments were made.  Minutes approved – 1st Dr. Perez, 2nd Mr. Snider.

If you need to contact the PTO, remember you can email us at ptodavis@gmail.com

Treasurer’s Report –  Ginger Kockentiet and Asch Mikhail

Current balances for PTO Checking and Savings were shared with the group. We currently have $8,414.12 in checking and $31,429.75 in savings.  We target to maintain one years expenses in reserve in preparation for years when we might not raise as much money.

The proposed budget was then shared with the group.  Asch covered the major items and commented that we have lost income from a variety of events that can’t happen this year due to Covid-19.  This means we have put more emphasis on the UnFundraiser as an opportunity for parents to make a one time pledge and eliminate the need for kids to sell anything this year.

No questions.  Budget was approved.  1st Dr. Perez, 2nd Mr. Snider

UnFundraiser – Elaine Spielberg, Chair

Elaine shared the importance of this fundraiser as a way to raise funds and reduce risk to kids by eliminating the need to sell.  We have worked to communicate each week of the fundraiser with more emphasis as weeks progressed. We communicate via the blog, instagram, Facebook, Twitter and weekly messages from school.  We have also collected testimonials from parents which we have shared in our messaging.   We have added a surprise-surprise to reward folks that donate to our fundraiser.

We are looking to receive more pledges  and hopefully make this our one and done fundraiser for 2020-2021. 

Our goal is $35,000 and to date we have received $6,947.36 ($3,192.36 Square & $3,755.00 99 Pledges). This leaves us with a remainder of $28,052.64.  

If you haven’t yet contributed to our fundraiser, please consider making a donation.  Links to Square and 99 Pledges are available on our blog.

Spirit wear – Melaine Gamez

Melaine provided an update on our spiritwear program for 2020-2021.  She has been researching vendors who can support us with online shopping and contactless delivery.  We will most likely be using T&L Graphics. They currently supply the spirit wear for our sports teams at Davis. The price point will be a little higher to account for shipping.  However, we are not required to purchase minimum amounts in order to offer products.  They will also work with us to use our own designs.  She is working with them on a selection of items to offer for sale.  The audience requested masks and socks as these are popular items.  Once we narrow down options and have several logos to consider, Dr. Perez suggested we send Google form out to students to allow them to vote on which items they like best.    She can facilitate for us.

Melanie shared three logo options they currently have for consideration. The group gave the options their approval.  Melanie will continue working on designs and coordinate with Tiffany Marr and team before submitting spirit wear items to Dr. Perez.

Q & A – moderated by Tiffany Marr

Questions were posted to the Chat box on Zoom and also asked during conversation.

Can the safety lights on Sutter Parkway be turned on during school hours?

They do not seem to be operating at any point during the day.  Dr. Perez emailed the school resource officer for assistance. The lights are controlled by the City.  

Can you introduce the new Administrative Intern – Helena Richards?

Dr. Perez provided an introduction to Helena and complemented her on how quickly she has jumped right into life at Davis and has been a great addition and has recently just completed MAP testing for the school. Mr. Snider concurred with this assessment and said she has been a wonderful teammate!  Ms. Richards audio was not working on Zoom so she was asked to speak at our October meeting.

Meeting concluded at 7:46 pm